Minimising Empty Days

Posted 2011/11/15 17:59

These last few months waiting, getting excited about the new
arrivals and now we discover that Octavia our pig is no longer
pregnant. It seems likely that she was pregnant as she
stopped coming into season after being served by a boar back in
July. This would have made her due next week but because her
mammary glands never developed, we have had to come to the
conclusion that she lost her litter. From talking to Carole Barr, whose boar we
borrowed to cover Octavia, she must have re-absorbed her pregnancy.
This sounds quite gruesome but actually it makes sense for mammals
that produce large numbers of offspring. If there's a problem with
say just one embryo, rather than the whole litter being aborted,
that one embryo can be reabsorbed into the body and the others can
carry on to full-term.

From looking online, it doesn't seem that uncommon for a pig to
lose her litter this way, but in proper pig business this
translates financially as 'empty days' and the aim is to minimise
empty days. This is done by either slaughtering the unproductive
animal or taking it back to the boar as soon as the re-absorbtion
is discovered. Fortunately we don't have to think in these terms as
she's not our cash cow, so I think we will minimise her empty days
by getting another grower in to keep her company. We'll take her to
the boar soon and aim for a spring litter.